Do you know what the names of 7 days of the week in Thai mean?

If you remember what kind of calendar we used before the present Thai solar calendar, you will know that we used lunar calendar. In order to tell the date at that time, we just followed the moon whether it was waxing, ขึ้น /kêun/ or waning, แรม /raem/. For example: แรม ๑๕ ค่ำ เดือน ๘ /raem 15 kâm deuan 8/ means ‘waning of the 15th Night of the 8th Lunar Month’. In case some or you might not know ค่ำ /kâm/ means night or nighttime.

However, we received the idea about 7 days of the week and the colors of each day from Hindus.

วันอาทิตย์ /wan-aa-tíd/, Sunday, is the first day of the week. It came from Sanskrit word ‘อาทตย’ means the sun. Red is the color of Sunday because Lord Surya, the Hindu god of the Sun, has red skin.

วันจันทร์ /wan-jan/, Monday, is the second of the week. Sanskrit word ‘จนทร’ referred to the moon. Lord Chandra, Moon God, has yellow skin, thus yellow is the color of Monday.

วันอังคาร /wan-ang-kaan/, Tuesday, the third day of the week. Although the Sanskrit root of ‘องคาร’ meant an ember or a charcoal, Lord Mangala, aka Lohit (meaning red), rules the day. His is the god of war and red is his color. Nevertheless, the color of the day in Thailand is pink. This day is also represented as The Mars.

วันพุธ /wan-púd/, Wednesday, a Sanskrit word, indicates connoisseur, pundit, expert. Can you guess which planet is พุธ /púd/? Right, it is Mercury. Wednesday is dedicated to Lord Vithal, an incarnation of Krishna and leaf green color represents the day.

วันพฤหัสบดี /wan-pá-réu-hàd-sà-bor-dee/, Thursday, the fifth day of the week. Its root ‘วฤหสปติ’ means god who is the teacher of all angels and therefore Thursday is assigned to Vishnu and Brihaspati, the Guru of Devas. The word also refers to the fifth giant planet from the sun. Yes, I mean Jupiter. Reddish yellow is the color of Thursday in Thailand.

วันศุกร์ /wan-sùg/, Friday, or ‘ศุกร’ in Sanskrit denotes merit or bright. Friday is devoted to Mother Goddess ‘Shakti’ and Shukra or Venus. In Thai, we call Venus ‘ศุกร์’ /sùg/ as well.

วันเสาร์ /wan-sao/, Saturday, ‘เสาร’ doesn’t only represent heaven in Sanskrit but also indicates Saturn when we talk about planet. In Hinduism, Saturday is reverent to Lord Shani. Owning to his black skin, black is the color of the day in Hindu belief. However, in Thailand, it is dark purple not black.

Thais do know not only when their birthday is but also which day is their birthday. And you? Do you know which day is yours?